The 2014 Tour de France is about to start. In order to show people how much energy the cyclists generate during the race can drive the operation of the machine, Brian Trevaskiss created this DIY pedal-powered printing machine.
Trevaskiss built a printing press out of scaffolding, discarded cover plates, metal square tubes and a bottle jack. During that time, Trevaskiss became more and more interested in cycling. Regardless of wind or rain, he rode to and from get off work every day. On weekends, he would ride out whenever he had the opportunity. So, it was natural for him to think of combining his two hobbies.
“I once joked about building a pedal printing press, and then the idea lingered in my mind,” he said. “Printing and riding a bicycle are my antidote to the modern screen life. ”
So Trevaskiss wanted to build a better printing press.
Trevaskiss pitched his idea to Sheffield Cultural Trust, which is organizing a 100-day Yorkshire Festival - the grand opening event of the Tour de France - in Leeds, where artworks and Prize money is provided for cultural exhibits.
A pedal-powered machine ties in perfectly with the theme of the Tour de France, but also with Sheffields printing history.
After receiving the bonus, Trevaskiss began designing and producing. But it was only five weeks before the celebrations opened on March 27, so he sought some help.
Trevaskiss got help from friends, enthusiastic cyclists and the product design team Click. They all discussed their ideas together. Trevaskiss believed that since it is a Tour de France celebration, more bicycle parts must be used. The good news is that bicycle parts are relatively easy to remove, and They have a lot of these parts lying around.
The main engine of the machine consists of 6 bicycle bottom brackets, which are equipped with various chainrings and cranks and five claws removed from a BMX scooter.
The biggest difficulty Trevaskisss team encountered was converting the rotational motion produced by bicycle pedals into the reciprocating motion that provides pressure for printing. They used many different gears and chains in order to keep the pedals from running too short or too long before finally completing it.
Designing this machine also made Trevaskiss realize that design itself has so many intersections with other fields. If it were not for designing this machine, he might never have thought of using CAD to draw three-dimensional renderings of machine movement.
